Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 10,361 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 10,361 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $9,608,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,726,107,000 after acquiring an additional 70,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,657,095,000 after acquiring an additional 91,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $929.75. 1,644,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,821,780. The company has a market cap of $412.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $987.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $946.11.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.